WiGig laptop is paired with Dell wireless dock, but routers will have to wait.

Dell has unveiled a wireless dock that can handle speeds of up to 4.6Gbps, allowing wireless connections from a laptop to USB storage devices and one or two monitors.

This is the first usable product based on WiGig (wireless gigabit, aka 802.11ad), which uses the 60GHz band to allow short-range transmissions far more powerful than standard Wi-Fi on the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. As we noted last month in our overview of WiGig, the Dell Lattitude 6430u Ultrabook was the first product to include a WiGig chip, but it had no other WiGig products to connect to. Dell filled that gap this week with the Dell Wireless Dock D5000. The dock is tri-band, meaning it supports 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 60GHz transmissions.

"Designed for use in offices, meeting rooms and classrooms, the Dell Wireless Dock offers quick and easy connectivity to displays, projectors, networks, speakers and other peripherals for unparalleled connectivity and convenience," Dell's announcement said. "The new dock supports up to two external displays with both DisplayPort and HDMI, features ample peripheral connectivity via three USB 3.0 ports and facilitates easy collaboration with a front Audio In/Out port for voice over IP at speeds of up to 4.6 gigabits per second. The Dell Wireless Dock can also be easily managed connect with the updated Dell Connection Manager that now supports both WiGig and Wireless LAN settings."

The Ultrabook and dock include a chip from WiGig silicon vendor Wilocity and Qualcomm Atheros. WiGig is based on the new Wi-Fi standard 802.11ad, which theoretically allows speeds of up to 7Gbps, perfect for large file transfers and video streaming. At the Consumer Electronics Show last month, Wilocity demonstrated WiGig-enabled laptops and tablets powering HD monitors, and ultra fast file transfers between computers and WiGig-enabled docks and routers.

Dell sells the Wireless Dock by itself for $270, or for $187 when added to a purchase of a Dell Latitude 6430u. Adding the dock may delay ship times.

While WiGig is limited today to this one laptop/dock pair, those pushing WiGig believe it will expand over the course of this year and especially in 2014. The Wi-Fi Alliance group is expected to begin certifying 802.11ad products at the end of 2013, providing greater assurance that products from different vendors will be able to work together. Wilocity is soon coming out with a second generation of its chip that will be able to power wireless routers.

60GHz transmissions are easily blocked by walls, but the future routers should be able to support traditional Wi-Fi standards to let devices fall back to the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands when people roam around their homes or offices. Wilocity's second-generation chip will also support 802.11ac on the 5GHz band, which is pretty fast itself.

Interesting I guess. Not $200 interesting but I guess it is probably aimed mostly at the executive office level type, the kind that fears a cable they have to plug in when they bring in the laptop. Pair this up with some kind of inductive power charging pad for the laptop and a wireless mouse and keyboard and you finally have that magic desktop look. Just need a holographic display for the whole thing.

Once they iron out any compatibility issues and figure out secure negotiation/attachment so I can walk into some office and connect to some other company's dock once they give me credentials, I will be more interested.

I've never understood why more office furniture manufacturers and laptop OEMs haven't gotten together to make a mounting setup for laptop docks. The easiest way to cut down on cable clutter, and more importantly, wasted desktop space, would be a dock mounted to a swing / slide out platform. Add in a wiring loom pre-routed for the desk setup and it would be golden.

If my laptop was more of my primary machine and I used it in the office with a larger monitor, full keyboard, etc. I would certainly have it setup to dock vertically out of the way mounted to a wall or underside of the desk.

Interesting I guess. Not $200 interesting but I guess it is probably aimed mostly at the executive office level type, the kind that fears a cable they have to plug in when they bring in the laptop. Pair this up with some kind of inductive power charging pad for the laptop and a wireless mouse and keyboard and you finally have that magic desktop look. Just need a holographic display for the whole thing.

Once they iron out any compatibility issues and figure out secure negotiation/attachment so I can walk into some office and connect to some other company's dock once they give me credentials, I will be more interested.

if it was just a power cable I'd agree the dock was a pointless extravagance; but mine gives me the ability to connect power, 3 external displays, my keyboard, two mice, a USB hub, ethernet, and my headphones all in one go. That's 10 connections for the price of one as is a major convenience factor and I've got a few more ports that aren't used if I need to hook more stuff up.

...or you could plug a single Thunderbolt cable into your laptop and have a wired connection that's much faster and more stable. The argument that this would work for meeting rooms supposes that everyone in the organization (and all visitors) use a laptop with the correct protocol (when pigs fly).

...or you could plug a single Thunderbolt cable into your laptop and have a wired connection that's much faster and more stable. The argument that this would work for meeting rooms supposes that everyone in the organization (and all visitors) use a laptop with the correct protocol (when pigs fly).

Well obviously it's a new technology. There's no reason to assume going forward that these limitations will remaine.

It's still a lot less data ports than their wired docs off. Mine has 1x DVI, VGA, Display port, ethernet, 2x audio, and 6x usb ports. With the exception of the 3rd display you could work around the reduction by daisychaining a hub, and a breakout to the combined headphone/mic port; but you'd lose the 3rd video out.

if it was just a power cable I'd agree the dock was a pointless extravagance; but mine gives me the ability to connect power, 3 external displays, my keyboard, two mice, a USB hub, ethernet, and my headphones all in one go. That's 10 connections for the price of one as is a major convenience factor and I've got a few more ports that aren't used if I need to hook more stuff up.

This. My dock (Port replicator) has connected to it my keyboard, mouse, Monitor (2 available), my printer, power, headphones, ethernet, webcam, USB hub, (I keep the laptop lid closed so I can't use the built in one, and still has about 5 ports unused (one of which I have no idea what it is).

The wireless dock seems really interesting interesting, but it's not too much trouble just clicking my laptop in place at the moment,

Also, each WiGig dock will only work with a specific model number and year of laptop...

Do you have a citation or is this just speculation? Previous Lattitude docs only needed replaced across major families of laptops C series, D series, E series. The D series went through five model years before being replaced, and its wired nature required replacement to change the available ports that were available. A wireless dock shouldn't have that sort of limitation.

...or you could plug a single Thunderbolt cable into your laptop and have a wired connection that's much faster and more stable. The argument that this would work for meeting rooms supposes that everyone in the organization (and all visitors) use a laptop with the correct protocol (when pigs fly).

Isn't that another proprietary interface from Apple with no compatibility whatsoever? No thanks!

...or you could plug a single Thunderbolt cable into your laptop and have a wired connection that's much faster and more stable. The argument that this would work for meeting rooms supposes that everyone in the organization (and all visitors) use a laptop with the correct protocol (when pigs fly).

Isn't that another proprietary interface from Apple with no compatibility whatsoever? No thanks!

Also, each WiGig dock will only work with a specific model number and year of laptop...

Do you have a citation or is this just speculation? Previous Lattitude docs only needed replaced across major families of laptops C series, D series, E series. The D series went through five model years before being replaced, and its wired nature required replacement to change the available ports that were available. A wireless dock shouldn't have that sort of limitation.

Also, each WiGig dock will only work with a specific model number and year of laptop...

Do you have a citation or is this just speculation? Previous Lattitude docs only needed replaced across major families of laptops C series, D series, E series. The D series went through five model years before being replaced, and its wired nature required replacement to change the available ports that were available. A wireless dock shouldn't have that sort of limitation.

We'll see.

So we are going with baseless speculation then. What a great way to contribute. You could of at least phrased it as a question.

WiGig is a standard so it may very well be compatible with other WiGig computers.

Not to mention that Dell Docks have been very compatible with other models in the past. I was able to use some of our docks across Latitude D630s and Precision M4300.

Of course our M4500s did require new docks. I think that had to do with the higher wattage(they also changed the power supply).

if it was just a power cable I'd agree the dock was a pointless extravagance; but mine gives me the ability to connect power, 3 external displays, my keyboard, two mice, a USB hub, ethernet, and my headphones all in one go. That's 10 connections for the price of one as is a major convenience factor and I've got a few more ports that aren't used if I need to hook more stuff up.

This. My dock (Port replicator) has connected to it my keyboard, mouse, Monitor (2 available), my printer, power, headphones, ethernet, webcam, USB hub, (I keep the laptop lid closed so I can't use the built in one, and still has about 5 ports unused (one of which I have no idea what it is).

The wireless dock seems really interesting interesting, but it's not too much trouble just clicking my laptop in place at the moment,

That was kind of my point, that it was an extravagant solution for a niche market. The idea of a dock is great, lots of laptops need that. The idea of a wireless dock is kind of cool on top of that. It being $200 (compared to a lot of docks that are half the price or less) and being so limited in compatibility is not cool.

No. It wasn't. It was merely more popular on Macs (relatively, given the tiny marketshare of Mac) because the first iMacs didn't have any legacy ports, so you were kinda forced into using USB.

As for Thunderbolt, it's nice but a) it's very much a Mac-thing right now, and b) wireless is nicer still.

Especially given it makes the remote PC possible - I don't know what the range of WiGig is, (other than short apparently), and how well it penetrates various materials, but being able to theoretically stow your PC and just have the dock, wireless keyboard/mouse and wallmounted display at your desk is pretty nice. Put the PC in a closet and enjoy the silence, while still having a fast interface for external storage, display etc.

It's a moot point right now, though, because as limited as thunderbolt support is, WiGig is even more limited.

...or you could plug a single Thunderbolt cable into your laptop and have a wired connection that's much faster and more stable. The argument that this would work for meeting rooms supposes that everyone in the organization (and all visitors) use a laptop with the correct protocol (when pigs fly).

And how a single Thunderbolt allows up two monitors of ANY brand plus other USB devices?

if it was just a power cable I'd agree the dock was a pointless extravagance; but mine gives me the ability to connect power, 3 external displays, my keyboard, two mice, a USB hub, ethernet, and my headphones all in one go. That's 10 connections for the price of one as is a major convenience factor and I've got a few more ports that aren't used if I need to hook more stuff up.

This. My dock (Port replicator) has connected to it my keyboard, mouse, Monitor (2 available), my printer, power, headphones, ethernet, webcam, USB hub, (I keep the laptop lid closed so I can't use the built in one, and still has about 5 ports unused (one of which I have no idea what it is).

The wireless dock seems really interesting interesting, but it's not too much trouble just clicking my laptop in place at the moment,

That was kind of my point, that it was an extravagant solution for a niche market. The idea of a dock is great, lots of laptops need that. The idea of a wireless dock is kind of cool on top of that. It being $200 (compared to a lot of docks that are half the price or less) and being so limited in compatibility is not cool.

The advantage is for Dell themselves. A hardware dock connector takes up a decent size chunk of space on the motherboard, and because it's location is fixed limits their ability to vary designs between model years or models within a single year. As the size of the mobo continues to shrink ot make more room for batteries this is increasingly a problem.

WiGig is implemented on the same module as normal WiFi, which means that from a design standpoint it's free. It also lets them potentially add/change ports on a dock without waiting several years for when the next hardware refresh lets them change the dock connector pin out (thunderbolt also has this advantage, but until it becomes integrated in the chipset will still eat board space).

...or you could plug a single Thunderbolt cable into your laptop and have a wired connection that's much faster and more stable. The argument that this would work for meeting rooms supposes that everyone in the organization (and all visitors) use a laptop with the correct protocol (when pigs fly).

Except for the period when laptops with the old dock are being phased out for those with the new doc this generally is the case internally. The companies buying laptops with docks generally aren't those with BYOD computer policies.

I find the dock useful enough that even if my employer did go BYOD I'd still spend the money on one and a compatible laptop because it makes taking it away from the desk much less of a hassle.

Interesting I guess. Not $200 interesting but I guess it is probably aimed mostly at the executive office level type, the kind that fears a cable they have to plug in when they bring in the laptop. Pair this up with some kind of inductive power charging pad for the laptop and a wireless mouse and keyboard and you finally have that magic desktop look. Just need a holographic display for the whole thing.

There's 3 USB 3.0 ports on the dock, no need for wireless keyboard/mouse. All the cables plug into the dock (monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, ethernet). And the laptop connects to the dock wirelessly over WiGig in order to access everything plugged into the dock.

IOW, all that's currently missing is the wireless charging pad.

Plop the laptop on the charging pad, and everything auto-connects to the dock, and you use the dock as if it were "the computer".

At work, we have so many people that do the cable shuffle (keyboard, mouse, power, monitor) but absolutely REFUSE to plug in an ethernet cable ... and then complain non-stop about how crappy the wireless connection is. Uhm, hello!? It's one extra cable to get 1 Gbps; what do you expect over 300 Mbps 802.11n? Gah!

Quote:

Once they iron out any compatibility issues and figure out secure negotiation/attachment so I can walk into some office and connect to some other company's dock once they give me credentials, I will be more interested.

I'm waiting for someone to add some inductive charging coils right into the dock itself, and add WiGig to smartphones. Then, you just plop your smartphone on top of the dock, and presto, there's your desktop.

What's the point of this? Won't you still need to plug in a power cable to the laptop?

Docks with physical connectors work great because you don't have to touch a single cable. You just push your laptop into the dock, and it's all ready to go.

Unless Dell is also incorporating wireless power into this device, it seems like this would be quite limited in its usefulness.

Not sure why you're getting downvoted, but this is why we'd never adopt these in our office. I'm the businessy type person who has one of these (although I'm a junior auditor, it's useful because I'm in and out of the office endlessly). I walk in, dump my laptop on the dock and get back to work. The wireless factor doesn't really make a difference, it's not that hard to line the laptop up on the dock and everything else is already plugged in. It's not even a price difference, my dock costs $200 already (there are higher end ones for $300).

Wigig is hugely useful, but this seems a solution without a problem. Let me know when I can wirelessly connect my desktop to my tv to save me having to have a separate HTPC, that would be hugely useful.

Dell already did that years ago with the Z series. It used some sort of short-range ultra-wideband wireless to auto-dock to your desk when in range. And it came with a laptop stand that wirelessly charged the battery. It was really expensive. It added about $2k to the laptop for those things. Although, if Apple offered that for my retina book, I might pony up.

Edit: It was a Dell Latitude Z600 made in 2009. It's always stuck in my head because of all of the cables I routinely plug into my macbook pro.

...or you could plug a single Thunderbolt cable into your laptop and have a wired connection that's much faster and more stable. The argument that this would work for meeting rooms supposes that everyone in the organization (and all visitors) use a laptop with the correct protocol (when pigs fly).

And how a single Thunderbolt allows up two monitors of ANY brand plus other USB devices?

...or you could plug a single Thunderbolt cable into your laptop and have a wired connection that's much faster and more stable. The argument that this would work for meeting rooms supposes that everyone in the organization (and all visitors) use a laptop with the correct protocol (when pigs fly).

You could use the imaginary Thunderbolt cable in the meeting room to catch the imaginary pig.As good as Thunderbolt is it’s unlikely to gain traction outside of Apple only organisations unless Intel integrates it at the chipset or CPU level.